March 17th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

Doors will open at 8am, so expect traffic volumes to be higher than usual heading into and around Lower Queen Anne. Plus, traffic heading out of our neighborhood around noon-2pm.

Starbucks expects approximately 2,500 people to attend the meeting. Plan ahead if your commute takes you by McCaw Hall or the garage across the street (Starbucks is advising shareholders use the Mercer Street Garage for parking).

March 17th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

Not to hammer home mom’s advice, but please and thank you go a long way – and tomorrow is your chance to join in on a King County-wide initiative to thank the hard-working Metro Bus drivers that get us to and from our destinations and navigate the mess that is Seattle traffic.

Maybe you want to go the extra mile? Do you have a driver on one of our Queen Anne routes that goes above and beyond for passengers? There’s a way to give Metro the heads up on these drivers via an online commendation form.

Or, just say “thanks” tomorrow when you take the bus. It’s just that easy!

March 17th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

A reader found a dog on the Burke Gilman Trail near SPU yesterday (Monday) morning. The dog doesn’t have a collar or microchip, so no way to contact her owner.

Here’s the description of the dog:

She’s a young female (appears to be 1.5 – 2 years old) who’s had a litter of puppies somewhat recently. She’s a short-hair Pit mix (looks to be mixed with black lab and, potentially, Rottweiler), medium size (estimate 45 lbs) and is mostly black with white toes, a white tip on her tail, brown eye brows and bits of brown fur on her face and legs. She was not wearing a collar and has no microchip.

March 16th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

The Queen Anne Community Council Land Use committee (LURC) meets tonight, March 16th, at 7pm at Queen Anne Manor (100 Crockett St). This particular Land Use meeting will focus on two Uptown developments, so if you’re interested in Uptown’s rapid growth, this is the meeting for you.

One project is a 6-story mixed use building at Denny Way and Warren Ave N, the other is a 5-story apartment complex at 19 W Harrison. Representatives will provide presentations and answer questions from the QACC and people in attendance.

Here’s the agenda with brief descriptions of the two new developments:

Land Use Application to allow a 6-story structure containing 75 residential units over 2,550 sq. ft. of commercial and six live/work units. Parking for 50 vehicles to be provided. Existing structures to be demolished. A preliminary design package is available online.

Land Use Application to allow a 5-story structure with 71 residential units above 685 sq. ft. of retail space. Project also includes 4 live/work units and parking for 45 vehicles to be provided below grade. Existing structure to be demolished. A preliminary design package is available online.

The QACC meeting is open to all, so if you want to see what’s on tap for Uptown in the near future, or have comments/questions, plan on attending tonight’s meeting.

March 15th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

A reader wrote us this morning to let us know about an assault that occurred at 9:45pm last night (Saturday, March 14th) at Little Howe Park, aka East Queen Anne Playfield. A 19 year-old woman was assaulted in the northeast part of the park, near the basketball court.

The reader heard her screams, called 911, and assisted the victim. The SPD report has no narrative, only the basic facts (time, location, type of crime). We’ve contacted our West Precinct coordinator, and will update the post if we get any additional information.

Here’s the information from the Good Samaritan neighbor:

“At 9:45pm a 19 year old woman was assaulted by a fleeing black male screaming obscenities in Little Howe Park. Another white, young male showed up after the assault who was intending to be part of the meeting. After hearing screams, we called 911, QA Fire responded within about 5 minutes, SPD was there within 10 minutes. An ambulance responded as well. The woman was treated for her injuries. The park was completely unlit with overgrown hedges.

The police officer who came was from Pike and Pine, and reported that they are short-staffed tonight. This appeared to be a drug deal gone wrong.”

While scary, this incident is also a reminder that our safe neighborhood can still be dangerous at night. Last year, another woman was mugged near the park while walking her dog at 10:30pm. Always be aware of your surroundings and don’t walk alone at night – especially through city Parks, which close at dusk for safety reasons.

March 14th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

Tomorrow, Sunday March 15th, is the annual St Patrick’s Day Dash and kids’ run, both starting at the Seattle Center. As with other road races that start and/or finish at Seattle Center, the Dash will impact local streets in the morning hours.

SDOT estimates that 13,000 people will attend tomorrow’s race, with staging on Mercer St between 1st Ave N and 4th Ave N. The Race starts in four 10-minute interval waves beginning at 8:30am. The staging area will be closed from 6am to 11am, and expect road closures along the mapped route.

Also, watch out for kids around the Seattle Center as the Kids Dash starts at the same Mercer staging area and finishes near the Seattle Children’s Museum:

The Irish Festival finishes up tomorrow at Seattle Center, so wear your green to cheer on the runners and catch some Irish culture too – free admission, runs from 10am to 6pm. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

March 14th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

The 5 Spot is truly a Queen Anne neighborhood institution, serving food to locals and visitors alike, and supporting the neighborhood with fundraisers and events. It’s now been at the corner of Queen Anne Ave N and Galer St for 25 years. That milestone alone is a good reason to stop by the 5 Spot this month – but there’s more.

This Monday, March 16th, if you dine at the 5 Spot, you can help out one of our local elementary schools at the same time. The 5 Spot is hosting “Dining Out for John Hay” to help showcase the school’s upcoming online auction and raise money for the school’s Arts program.

For all food sales between 8:30am and 10pm, the 5 Spot is donating 25% of the proceeds to John Hay. It’s an easy way to support both a local business and Queen Anne students at the same time.

Thanks to the 5 Spot for its continuing neighborhood support, and happy 25th anniversary!

March 13th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

On Fridays we feature an adoptable pet from the Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS). SAS is located at 2061 15th Ave W, just north of Whole Foods, at the corner of W. Armory Way. SAS is open Tuesday – Sunday, noon-6pm.

Queen Anne View has not met any of these pets – SAS is providing us with the description, as they know them well. We encourage potential adopters to get in touch with SAS and work with them to evaluate the compatibility of your home and a new pet.

Well hello there! That handsome grey/fancy fella there is Jesse, and that’s me, Walter, in the beautiful white coat. Pretty darn attractive gentlemen, aren’t we? We’re a friendly pair of male rats who came into the shelter after being abandoned. What a lousy thing for someone to do, but no matter, we’re safe and warm in a cozy foster home now. We’re looking forward to moving on with our lives and into a new human family that will love and care for us. We’re fairly well socialized and looking for a home where we’ll get plenty of attention from our human friends. I love pets and skritches, and while Jesse is a little more reserved, he’ll come around for the right treats. As you might imagine, we’re very attached to each other and must be adopted together.

If you’ve never had a pet rat before – well, you really don’t know what you’re missing! Rats are highly intelligent and social animals (if I may say so myself), and we do best with a rat buddy or two, that’s why it’s important that Jesse and I stay together. We need daily interaction with our human companions, as well as toys and activities to keep us busy. They say rats are charming and engaging animals, and they make rewarding pets – Jesse and I would love to prove that to you.

We’re pretty easy keepers, but we do need a large cage with plenty of materials to make nests with (paper, old socks, tissues, etc.), and a couple of hideaways to make them in. Cardboard boxes with entry ways cut into them make excellent rat houses. We’ll also need plenty of room to climb and explore.

The best food for us is high-quality rat/rodent blocks, supplemented daily with healthy fresh foods like greens, peas, corn, tofu, non-dairy yogurt, fruit, pulses, oats and other whole grains. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Of course, we should always have access to fresh water. With love and care, rats live 2-3 years.

March 9th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

WSDOT has apparently re-thought its plans to close lanes on Aurora as we reported yesterday. The impacts from bus traffic was a key factor, as stops along the route would back up traffic. WSDOT still plans to do the work, just at a later date (so stay tuned).

Here’s the update from WSDOT. Note, a full night-time northbound closure is still happening tonight:

WSDOT postpones long-term lane closures on SR 99/Aurora Avenue North

The Washington State Department of Transportation is postponing plans for long-term lane closures on State Route 99 originally scheduled to begin on Wednesday, March 11.

These closures were needed to install several large sign foundations for the SR 99 North Access project. While this work must occur, it will be rescheduled to a later date in an effort to minimize impacts to the traveling public. The public will be alerted in advance of any future lane closures.

Full closure of northbound SR 99 tonight [Monday]

Contractor crews still plan to close northbound SR 99 to straighten the curve in the highway near Mercer Street.

Tonight, SR 99 will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. between the Battery Street Tunnel and Valley Street. All lanes will open at 6 a.m. in time for the morning commute.

March 8th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

Starting Monday, March 9th, WSDOT will begin work on the portion of Aurora/99 between Valley St and the Aurora Bridge, resulting in approximately 12 weeks of lane closures that will impact traffic. Also, note that northbound Aurora will be closed to all traffic from 10pm Tuesday, March 10th to 6am, Wednesday, March 11th.

Here are the key details:

- Monday, March 9th: preliminary work

- Tuesday, March 10th: full overnight closure (10pm to 6am) of northbound 99 between the Battery Street Tunnel and Valley Street

One lane closed for approximately 8 weeks between Valley St and the Aurora Bridge

Two lanes will remain open to traffic during peak travel times.

Buses will travel and stop in the right lane with other vehicle traffic.

An additional lane may close at night and during some weekend days.

Southbound SR 99/Aurora Avenue North

One lane will be closed for approximately 12 weeks between the Aurora Bridge and Valley Street.

Two lanes will remain open to traffic during peak travel times.

The bus-only lane restriction will be lifted; buses will travel and stop in the right lane with other vehicle traffic.

An additional lane may close at night and during some weekend days.

Per WSDOT, the long-term lane closures are expected to cause additional congestion and backups on Aurora, especially during peak commute times. Buses will travel and make stops in the outside lanes with other vehicle traffic. The southbound, bus-only lane will be open to all traffic during this work.

March 7th, 2015 by Laura Fonda

In the past few weeks, we’ve had several readers write in with their own personal experiences with crime – and not just car prowls. We get a lot of car prowl reports, so they often don’t make the blog. Those crimes are a nightly occurrence.

However, these two separate incidents are a bit more alarming – an attempted daylight break-in and a suspicious person (with warrants) sleeping in a resident’s car.

The descriptions from the readers are below – if you see someone matching the description of the suspicious person, call 911. And, be sure to lock your car doors… and check the back seat of your vehicles.

First up – attempted break-in on 10th Ave West on 19 February, reported by two different readers:

10th Ave W burglary: We had a daylight prowler this morning. One of our neighbors questioned the man, but he continued on and tried to break into our back neighbor’s house while she was home. This is how our neighbor described the man:

Next up – suspicious person in back seat of resident’s car near Trader Joe’s on 22 February:

Resident noticed movement in his car, parked in an alley behind the home and unlocked, and realized there was a person inside of our car. Called SPD and responding found man was sleeping, in a sleeping bag, in the back of the hatchback. He was arrested for trespassing and had a prior warrant.

And finally, here’s a brief round-up from SPD reports on residential burglary crimes in February. There were a total of 28 burglaries on Queen Anne in February, including a few commercial burglaries.

Not all 28 burglaries are listed, only ones with additional information in SPD reports (not all crimes have narrative reports).

Text has been edited for ease of reading – and key to note are the items taken. Jewelry and change (including piggy banks) are top targets. It’s worth noting that several reports called out that laptops and electronics were not taken.

11 February 2015: 24XX Queen Anne Ave N. First floor window was broken. Missing items include a laptop computer, cameras and camera lenses, and several pieces of jewelry. The next-door neighbor, arrived at the scene and said she had found her back door open when she returned home the afternoon of 10 February. The door had been closed and locked, and the presence of her two large dogs in the home may have deterred a burglary from occurring.

14 February 2015: 15 1st Ave W. Victim returned home to find the front door had been forced open and items had been scattered around all over the house. The only items taken were several pieces of jewelry. The house shares a backyard with another home that appeared to have been broken into (see below).

14 February 2015: 15 1st Ave W (related to above) When victim arrived home he found the kitchen window open, lights on, and the burner on the stove was on and a cabinet was open. Three laptop computers were taken, two gold rings, a men’s gold wristwatch, loose change, a duffle bag, a black backpack, a Timbuktu messenger bag, and a few bottles of liquor.

17 February 2015: 1X Dravus St. Victim had been out of town for 4 days, when she returned home she discovered that a road bike, several pieces of jewelry, and an iPod Nano were missing. There was no sign of forced entry so believes that the back sliding-door may have been unlocked at the time.

20 February 2015: X W Mercer Pl. Victims left to get coffee at 9:30am and returned at 10:30am and found damage to their front door consistent with someone using their shoulder to try and force entry. Victims suspect someone observed them leave then tried to break into their house, but when their two dogs barked, the suspects left. SPD report cites the victims’ frustration with repeat crime and plans to move to the Eastside.

20-21 February 2015: 1X Hayes St. Victims discovered the rear kitchen window was removed and home ransacked. Computer tablets, equipment, and other valuable electronic items remained. Jewelry was missing and currency stolen. Five unloaded firearms were stolen.

21 February 2015: 1000 block of W Galer St: Victims left their residence at approximately 5:30pm and returned at midnight. Noticed doors to his closet and dresser were open and called 911. Rings, braclets, and four underarm deodorants were taken.

23 February 2015: 3400 block of 12th Ave. W – two burglaries of neighboring homes, sometime between February 9th and February 23:

Home #1: suspect(s) entered the house by prying the patio door open with some sort of pry tool. They went though several of the rooms taking jewelry and cash from kids’ piggy bank and money jars. Total loss of the jewelry and cash is over $2,000.00.

Home #2: suspect(s) had pried open a small rear kitchen window located on the deck next to the large sliding glass doors. The suspect gained access inside and ransacked his office and bedroom. The suspect had stolen a large Smirnoff bottle that contained about $300.00 in change. Jewelry was sorted – some taken, some not.

28 February 2015: burglary at 1900 block of 10th Ave W. Victim left at 12:40pm with doors secured; he returned an hour later and discovered someone had entered and stolen an estimated amount of $20,000 in jewelry, a sterling silver silverware set, and his wife’s purse containing credit cards. The door into the building had to be opened with a key and had a protective latch plate running the length of the door’s opening crack. According to SPD, Suspect(s) may have followed someone in.

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Caring for someone with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)? Need support and information? Alzheimer’s Association FTD caregiver support groups provide a place for caregivers to learn and gain support from others caring for a person with FTD.[...]